Supporters have branded FIFA’s latest ticket pricing for the 2026 World Cup a “monumental betrayal” after details emerged on Thursday.
Although FIFA repeatedly claimed that affordable tickets starting at around $60 (and even $21 in early U.S. bid promises) would be widely available, a price list released by the German Football Association (DFB) for tickets allocated to national federations tells a very different story.
Through the 8% of tickets reserved for each participating nation’s most dedicated fans, group-stage matches range from $180 to $700 depending on the fixture. The cheapest seat for the final is listed at $4,185, with the most expensive reaching $8,680.
Fan network Football Supporters Europe (FSE) called the prices “extortionate” and accused FIFA of abandoning the tournament’s traditions.
According to FSE’s calculations, following a national association’s “participant member association” (PMA) allocation—the route intended for the most loyal traveling supporters who attend every game from the opening match to the final—would cost up to €6,900 ($8,111). That is roughly five times what the same package cost at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is,” FSE said in a statement.
The organization also criticized the lack of uniform pricing across group-stage games, noting that costs appear to be inflated based on subjective factors such as the “perceived attractiveness” of each matchup rather than a consistent, accessible rate for all fans.
England Fans Fury as Following the Three Lions to the 2026 World Cup Final Will Cost Over $7,000
On Thursday evening, the English FA sent pricing details to members of the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC). The figures revealed that buying a ticket for every England match from the group stage through to the final — via the loyal-supporter allocation — would cost $7,020 (£5,228).
The Football Supporters’ Association’s England Fans’ Embassy called the policy “laughable” and “a slap in the face” to dedicated fans who follow the team year-round, not just at major tournaments.
In a strongly worded post on X, they wrote:
“To brand the cheapest tickets ‘Supporter Value Category 3’ — the cheapest option available to ESTC members — and then charge $7,020 to follow England from the first game to the final is frankly laughable.”
The influential England fans’ group Free Lions echoed the outrage, fully supporting Football Supporters Europe’s earlier statement and adding:
“These are shocking prices, far higher than the already-expensive figures we feared. This can’t be allowed to happen. Match-going fans around the world deserve protection from these rip-off costs.”
While FIFA has publicly advertised tickets on its own platform starting at $60 for group games and rising to $6,730 for the final, it has confirmed it will use dynamic pricing for the first time at a World Cup, meaning those figures can increase. Tickets sold directly by FIFA are divided into four categories (Category 1 being the most expensive), but the lists released by national associations such as Germany’s DFB show only three categories — and considerably higher minimum prices. For example, Germany’s cheapest ticket for their opener against Curaçao in Houston is $180, with semifinal tickets starting at $920–$1,125.
Football Supporters Europe has demanded that FIFA immediately suspend ticket sales through national associations “until a solution is found that respects the tradition, universality and cultural significance of the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, FIFA opened its third and most important ticket phase on Thursday — the first time fans can apply for specific matches via a Random Selection Draw that runs from December 11, 2025, to January 13, 2026. Earlier sales phases were “blind” because the groups had not yet been drawn.
For context, when the United States last hosted the World Cup in 1994, tickets cost between $25 and $475. In Qatar 2022, the range announced at launch was roughly $70 to $1,600.
